US FEDERAL lawmakers have introduced legislation to require fast-food and other chain restaurants to post calories on menu boards and food display tags. The American chains would also have to put information about calories, fats, carbohydrates and salt on printed menus.
The Menu Education and Labeling Act was introduced last Thursday and was designed to help consumers make more informed choices about the nutritional content of the food they are ordering.
The bill has the support of many consumer and health groups and emulates legislation signed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in September requiring chain restaurants in California to display calorie counts with each menu item.
That was the US’s first state law of its kind and it won the support of the California Restaurant Association because it standardised requirements.
Health advocates believe that when people see the amount of calories, fat and salt in meals before they order them, they gravitate towards more healthy selections. “Consumers play an impossible guessing game trying to make healthier choices in restaurants,” says Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“Who would guess that a large chocolate shake at McDonald’s has more calories than two Big Macs or that a multigrain bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts has 140 more calories than a jelly doughnut?”
The US restaurant industry is pushing a competing bill. The Labeling Education and Nutrition Act would require chains with more than 20 outlets to post calorie counts.
It would also nullify state and local measures already in effect and pre-empt future regional measures.
New York City has a law, and more than a dozen states and numerous cities are pondering menu labelling legislation. The US cities and states with regulations take different approaches.
New York requires the posting of calories, whereas Seattle requires the listing of calories, sodium, saturated fat and carbohydrates.
Americans get one-third of their calories from eating out, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
“At table-service chains it’s easy to find 1,000-calorie appetisers, 1,000-calorie entrées and 1,000-calorie desserts. Not surprisingly, about two-thirds of American adults and a third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese,” Wootan says.
Some chains aren’t waiting for legislation. Yum Brands Inc – the parent of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut – plans to add product calorie information to menu boards in its company-owned restaurants across the US and to encourage franchise owners to do the same.
The company says the calorie information will be phased onto menu boards starting this year and will be completed by January 2011.
It’s a big move by one of the largest purveyors of fast food. Yum franchises or owns about 20,000 US restaurants.
The California law applies to restaurants with 20 or more locations in California, about 17,000 eateries. From July 1st they must provide brochures with the number of calories and grams of saturated fat for each item.
From January 2011, all menus and menu boards will have to include the number of calories for each item.
Do you think Irish restaurants should give clear indications, including number of calories, salt content etc, in each dish? E-mail healthsupplement@irishtimes.com